# Chef Jeni Wheeler: Waste not, want not, warm not

An episode of [Not a Climate Scientist](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1893397479), 3 Jun 2026, 29 min.

Audio: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/6ca9ba43505d4db31a41e517a7ccf4d92cf0cd8975b1159fcb293750591468eb/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJmNzlhNTNhNy01YWEzLTQ2MjUtOTBiMC03OGM0NTM5MmMwZDMiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI1MjZkMzc5MS0xYzVmLTQ1ODQtOTFlZi0yZTk0Mzg4ZGZkNTMiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTE0ZDYxOGQzMTgxZTA5YWMwYjM3NTAiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmExZjBkNTE2NmU0MzU4OGRhNDkwYzk2L2hlYXRoZXItZ29sZHN0b25lcy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTJfXzE5LTUtMjEubXAzIn0=.mp3

This chef takes a bite out of the third largest source of greenhouse gases by turning would-be food waste into health meals for those in need.

## Transcript

Heather Goldstone: Jeni Wheeler, I have been looking forward to this welcome to a climate scientist.
Jeni Wheeler: I don't think you've been looking forward to it as much as I have. I've been so excited to do this.
Heather Goldstone: Jeni, you are a chef, a nonprofit leader, a food access advocate, A force of nature. What else should I add to that? How would you describe yourself? ⁓ Not a Climate Scientist is a podcast from Woodwell Climate Research Center. Like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts, then head over to our website to sign up for emails so you never miss an episode. Join me back here next time for a conversation with disease detective Neil Vora about the link between Ebola and climate change and how protecting tropical forests can be a solution for both.
Jeni Wheeler: stubborn, defiantly stubborn. you know, I'm the founder and executive director of the Family Table Collaborative. we ⁓ are an organization that really focuses ⁓ on, sure everyone has access to good whole food, real food. We strongly believe that all food is not created equally. ⁓ And it matters because healthier people create healthier communities. And so really our focus is on increasing nutritional security. And in that old adage of, you give a man a fish or do you teach him to fish? We genuinely believe that in order to create sustainable change, you have to do both. And so what I mean by that is, focus on meeting people where they're at, while where are they at? Prepared food. but more often than not, high in fat, salt, sugar, preservatives, or all of the above. And that really isn't the food everyone needs access to because food is the baseline. It's the number one thing that impacts your physical and mental health. So we wanna make sure people can have access to prepared food, but better quality, really nutritious, delicious prepared food. Food is not one size fits all. So you really have to meet people where they're at and make sure that they can have safe meals, they can have healthy meals regardless of their economic status, regardless of their location, whether have a vehicle, all of that stuff. it's important. And big believers here that ⁓ good food should a basic human right.
Heather Goldstone: And one of the things that I find really remarkable about what Family Table Collaborative does is you're providing meals to people. are food kitchens and other agencies do this work But there's often, there's vouchers and there's qualifications and there's this and there's that to actually get to that food. Hi, everybody, I'm Heather Goldstone, and this is Not a Climate Scientist, the podcast where we talk with everyday Americans about the very real ways climate change is showing up in our lives and livelihoods. which can be understandably really off-putting for folks, right? ⁓ got this totally different approach.
Jeni Wheeler: Yes. It's off putting, but it's also, yeah, it's off putting, it also is, It's one of those things where people ⁓ me, like, well, do you qualify people? I always tell them, like, this is like a hill I'll die on. ⁓ Because ⁓ what's the purpose behind that? ⁓ everybody should have access to good food. And this is where for me, again, that not all food is created equally. You know, we do a lot of rescue. So we scratch make everything here in our kitchen. But the where that food comes from is we're partnered with a lot of the farms.
Heather Goldstone: And today we're tackling the third largest contributor to planet warming pollution. It's not a country or a company, it's food waste. Food that goes uneaten is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally. A lot of that comes from the energy required to grow, harvest, package, ship, and refrigerate food. And once that food is thrown away, it can become a source of the powerful greenhouse gas methane as it decomposes.
Jeni Wheeler: the Fisherman's Alliance, the fishing and shell fishing industry at large, and then Whole Foods Market is our largest community partner. We take in about two tons of food from them a week, like a week. And that's one store. And the craziest part is that Whole Foods Market donates to pantries seven days a week. We're not a pantry. So what's really important for people to understand is most of the food we're taking in from them, the pantries cannot.
Heather Goldstone: That's a lot. My guest today is tackling this big problem at the same time that she addresses another huge challenge: food insecurity. Chef Jeni Wheeler is the founder of Family Table Collaborative, a nonprofit that turns rescued food into fresh, healthy meals for those in need. And she changed how I think about the challenge of food waste.
Jeni Wheeler: And it's because it's the fresh food, whole food, good food. It requires refrigeration, immediacy, somebody that knows what to do with it. And that isn't what the pantries can do, right? And so again, me, ⁓ it becomes quality issue. And again, ⁓ access? Why are we restricting access to good food? Because where we see the negative on this is in our health care, in our health, and then in our health care system. it makes no sense. Financially, it makes no sense. You actually spend more money on the health care side than if you actually invested in feeding people good food. And it's this big ⁓ that we don't have enough food. that really, for me, is where this whole conversation, I can't wait to have because it's the most critical component ⁓ is that, yes, focusing on feeding people really good quality food, on the other side, it's the reducing waste, increasing sustainability ⁓
Heather Goldstone: Hahaha
Jeni Wheeler: We're reporting in the country, we're reporting over % of the United States reporting some level of food insecurity. That's insane. The United States is one of the largest food producers in the world. ⁓
Heather Goldstone: and one of the richest nations on earth, right? How can we have so many people that are going hungry?
Jeni Wheeler: 100 percent. So
Heather Goldstone: Connect those dots really clearly. You already kind of alluded to this, right? You're getting food to people. You're also making sure that food does not end up in a landfill or even a composter - that it doesn't go to waste when it could be really feeding people.
Jeni Wheeler: Yes. So as I mentioned, the United States is one of the world's largest food growers. at a time that we're talking about such a significant amount of hunger ⁓ in United States, we're also paying farmers to basically plow under about 40 % of all the crops grown here. the United makes up a approximately 5 % of the world's population and generates over 25 % of the world's food waste. why is we make up the United States makes up approximately 5 % of the world's population and we generate ⁓ 25 % of the world's food waste. now you have it is in what makes it more stunning is food waste is the third largest contributor to greenhouse gases.
Heather Goldstone: Wait, say that again. That's really quite stunning.
Jeni Wheeler: And this is where it's a systems issue. So we're a country that grows some of the most plentiful food in the world. We have almost, you know, 40 % of people in the United States reporting some level of food insecurity. we're paying to plow under about 40 % of all the crops that are grown here. We don't want Because we are a country that operates with immense surplus. And we're not good at managing surplus. It's easier to call stuff waste.
Heather Goldstone: And why is that?
Jeni Wheeler: So as far as FTC in particular, as I mentioned, we take in all of this food. our teams take in all that food. They determine what we can use in the meals we're going to make that week. And then they determine what we can rescue that we're not going to use. And we clean it up and put it right back out through agencies that interface directly with families and those most at risk. Whatever we can't rescue goes to feed local farm animals and whatever they don't eat goes back in the ground as compost. So reducing waste, increasing sustainability. besides that thing we're really good at in the middle of feeding thousands of people nutritious meals. today.
Heather Goldstone: Can you just walk me through that though? Like I'm wanting an example, right? So what is a food that Whole Foods has determined they need to get rid of, they can no longer sell it, that you might see and say, we can use that,
Jeni Wheeler: Okay. I so want just take my computer and walk you through our walk-in right now. ⁓ Because you what's funny, Heather, is this is the piece that blows people's minds. So when I we take in about two tons of food a from them, a ⁓ little over usually 150.
Heather Goldstone: Hahaha
Jeni Wheeler: cases, banana boxes, actual banana boxes of food from them mostly produce every week. it ⁓ ⁓ that you can possibly imagine. ⁓ our favorite is when we get things we're not 100 % sure what they are and then we have to figure it out. ⁓ amazes me that things like that still exist. That I'm like, I think I know. it but I'm not sure. And then we smell it and then we cut it open and then we taste it and then we take a picture of it and then we upload it and ask if we are not sure.
Heather Goldstone: mean you're working from a baseline of I know it's edible so I can cut it open and eat it.
Jeni Wheeler: I mean, it literally, I mean, it's just hilarious how many random things we get I like to tell people as an example, when was the last time you went to a grocery store and did this to a carton of strawberries? Like, and without fail, no matter what, you get home, you open it up and the one in the middle is moldy. It doesn't matter. Like, 100%. We all do it. Every single one of us does it. Like every single one of us. And so this is where any speck of anything at Whole Foods, it comes to us. The whole thing comes to us. So my team will dump out the berries and
Heather Goldstone: 100%.
Jeni Wheeler: pick out all the ones that don't look perfect, right? Because God forbid food in the United States doesn't look perfect. That's what we expect. then they'll do a light vinegar wash with them. And then either they put them back in the containers and send them back out to families and seniors and those most at risk. Or they put them on cookie trays for us. and we freeze them until they're like marbles. And then we can pack them into bags or boxes or whatever to use so we can cook with them, bake with them ⁓ and make dressings and marinades year round. So, I happen to be lucky enough to grow up with a grandmother that I cooked with nonstop and we had huge gardens. And I had no idea how weird I was that I didn't eat any processed food. Like that we didn't have any processed food. Like I had no idea how weird I was when I went to like nursery school, and it's like, wait, what is that? and they're like goldfish.
Heather Goldstone: finding out we have more in common even than we realized. I grew up until I was nine years old self-sufficient farms ⁓ and mean homemade bread, milk fresh from the cow. The first time I had store-bought milk my mom swears I spit it out and said what is this chalky water stuff. ⁓ Yeah so few Americans ⁓ have that I
Jeni Wheeler: Yes! What is that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. ⁓ I talk to people about fresh snacks all the time. We ⁓ kids classes around fresh snacks, healthy ⁓ And I love to illustrate the tiny what call baby carrots.
Heather Goldstone: Regular sized carrots cut up to look like baby carrots.
Jeni Wheeler: shaved, cut up, shaved and bleached. Like that's what they do.
Heather Goldstone: And then presumably the rest of the carrot that was shaved away is thrown away.
Jeni Wheeler: goes in the landfill. and it's so funny to me, because I'm like, you know, we actually rarely peel carrots here. Because a lot of the nutrients of a lot of things are in the skins and stuff like that. But again, it's like, people don't want to eat an apple with a bruise in it. And yet if you are trying to make jams and all of this stuff, it's like banana bread, right? It's like you actually want like the mushier, know, older bananas because they make sweeter banana bread. with most jams. ⁓
Heather Goldstone: And I feel like at some point there was this ⁓ it was around COVID, like limited trend of a few grocery stores decided to actually take their riper bananas and set them on a different stand ⁓ give them a different price and basically sell them specifically to people who wanted to be able to make banana bread But it was like a blip, right? It was a blip. And for the most part, you don't see that. The instant those bananas start to get some brown dots on them, they disappear from the grocery store.
Jeni Wheeler: They're Correct. we also wrap everything in plastic. then we throw a sticker it. ⁓
Heather Goldstone: God, those stickers. The amount of time I spend peeling stickers off of...
Jeni Wheeler: Every potato, every onion, every peach, every apple, every one, every pepper, all have stickers. That's all plastic. ⁓ And every bit of plastic ever made still exists. Yes, we have some things that are moving towards biodegradable. Yes, we have some things that you can melt it down and make it into something else. But plastic never goes away. And so again, it's just one more issue. I was in Africa two and a half years ago and I had a meeting with the World Food Program at the UN in Nairobi. And I I nerded out at a level. I mean, I love policy ⁓ I in the Model UN when I was growing up ⁓ and was so overwhelmed and excited to be there. But I walked out of that ⁓ literally first world, third world. Who's doing this better?
Heather Goldstone: you
Jeni Wheeler: because what we were talking about is cycles, systems, and how when you keep food local and you grow it locally and then you use it in the school systems and in local businesses and in local restaurants, that cycle of food, it creates jobs, it creates better health because it's real, it's kept local so you're not shipping it everywhere and nothing is wrapped in plastic. it also, again, was ⁓ nourishing ⁓ the neighbors, right? Because it's literally that cycle of food. ⁓ we've just kind of lost in country. And, you know, we don't really have a lot reverence for two things, food ⁓ or time. ⁓ And those are the two things.
Heather Goldstone: I was gonna bring up that time thing because we can talk about all of these things. And I was listening to us talking and I was like, ⁓ this starts to feel kind of judgy, right? Like that we should all be doing this differently. We should be making our banana bread from scratch and we should be making meals from scratch and rescuing. And that's a lot to put on really busy, strapped families who cut across the socioeconomic spectrum. Everybody's busy. And then especially
Jeni Wheeler: Yes. Definitely. 100 %
Heather Goldstone: you get to households where, as you were talking about, the adults are working two, three jobs, the kids ⁓ potentially school and a job, finding the time to do this.
Jeni Wheeler: or sports or activities or whatever, right? Like, I mean, I say to parents how many of you have, you know, kids in sports or activities, 27 hours a day? Right. Like, I mean, if you're not working, you're a sherpa or you're a taxi, right? You're Uber. Like, so the thing is, is that that's just more work, right? Like, and so,
Heather Goldstone: It does feel like that sometimes.
Jeni Wheeler: there's kind of this ⁓ myth that you know real food, whole food, good food, has to be super expensive, that it has to take a ton of time, that it has to be really hard, Well, of the reasons why they think it's so expensive, Heather, is because if you go shop for a recipe, we live in a country where you can't get a gram of this. ⁓ or four ounces of that, right? You can't go buy a quarter of a head of cabbage, you know, and sometimes you get loose carrots or like something like that. But usually it's like you go make a recipe and then you have up to 70 % of what you want. Great, and people don't know what to do with it. Well, that's how people think that cooking is more expensive they don't. ⁓
Heather Goldstone: You whole bunch of food left over. and how we generate a whole bunch of food waste.
Jeni Wheeler: this where words really matter. at that point in time, you go buy all these ingredients, you make your meal, and you have all of this stuff left over. People automatically think of it as, ⁓ well, it's waste. Like, I don't know what to do with it. So it ends up sitting here. ⁓ Correct. Surplus, on the other hand, ⁓ extra. ⁓ And ⁓ it only
Heather Goldstone: and waste is something we throw away.
Jeni Wheeler: becomes waste when don't use it. And that's the disconnect what the United States operates in is in a mass quantity of ⁓ surplus. It becomes waste when you don't have organizations like the Family Table Collaborative ⁓ to step in. when you have extra food at your house and you don't know what to do with it, it isn't waste, it's surplus. And if we could help you create something else, then it would never become waste.
Heather Goldstone: Okay, so let's do that. Because that's where my brain's going as well. I've heard the phrase, buy what you'll eat, eat what you buy. Which to your point, there's a systems problem there because I may know that I will only eat a quarter head of cabbage, but I don't have the option to only buy a quarter head of cabbage. So this can't entirely be blamed on ⁓ There's a systems problem there. But within the system that we are.
Jeni Wheeler: Yes.
Heather Goldstone: currently living and working? Do you have advice for households that want to try to utilize their surplus food better?
Jeni Wheeler: Yeah, I do want to point out one more thing. 100 % and you're 100 % correct. it's even worse of a systems problem than what most people realize because they don't realize that most grocery stores, including Whole Foods Market has minimums, ordering minimums. when you have to purchase, you have an ordering minimum and it's a full rack of bread. So like you have to order a full rack, right? Or you have to.
Heather Goldstone: even if you know that you're only gonna manage to sell half of it before it hits its expiration date.
Jeni Wheeler: Correct. They're going knowing they are going to loss it out. But it's a critical item that their people, their customers purchase every week. They have to have it. And so literally it ⁓ gets priced to sell knowing that they're going to loss out 35%.
Heather Goldstone: which makes the, for those who are buying it, makes it more expensive.
Jeni Wheeler: Correct, 100 % yes, yes. So that's why I say the systems is so much, it's like so much worse than what most people even understand because you can't turn around and be like, ⁓ the grocery stores are the problem when no, ⁓ they are forced into purchasing cycles that are part of the problem. ⁓ It is truly a systems problem here. And again, it creates waste ⁓ at ⁓ every ⁓ single level because there is surplus that most places can't do anything with. And that's where all
Heather Goldstone: Okay, so I'm gonna change my question and ask you for two pieces of advice then. The first is, what do we do in our own kitchens, our own households to that surplus becoming So that's question one. And then question two is, do you have ideas ⁓ about how we as individuals or communities can to push for change in this broader system?
Jeni Wheeler: Okay. I think the biggest thing is recognizing that food has multiple uses right off the bat. So like, you get chicken or you get turkey. Actually, let's talk about turkey because we're inundated with turkey right now. This is a great topic and it's like, and it's something that really is like this unique thing, very United States oriented, right? So.
Heather Goldstone: you Well, and I want to be clear that we're having this conversation in the middle of May when I'm pretty sure that nobody other than you is thinking about turkeys. Like, thinking about turkey as a food source happens for about one month of the year in this country, for most of us.
Jeni Wheeler: Yes. And that's why I just decided to like tackle that right now, because it's a perfect example of how our country kind of operates. So you're going into Thanksgiving, right? And everybody now is talking about turkey. And turkey prices are at like 10 times what they are most of the year, But what happens after Thanksgiving, like turkey prices start to plummet and it goes from like 2.99 a pound. to 29 cents a pound, to 19 cents a pound, to we'll pay you to take it. And that is literally like that. And then get calls after Thanksgiving. ⁓ Jeni we have 1,900 pounds of extra turkeys. so is to date we have taken in more than 5,000 pounds of turkey since Thanksgiving. ⁓ And ⁓ here's thing, are
Heather Goldstone: You
Jeni Wheeler: like hard to manage, like they're hard to store, they don't stack well, like, you know, it's like very difficult ⁓ to manage. ⁓
Heather Goldstone: Thank you. I've been part of some of those turkey collection efforts and tried to stack them into trucks and can testify that they do not stack well or stay put. You end up with the avalanche of turkeys and yeah.
Jeni Wheeler: They do not stack. Nope. Nope. 100%. And this is like part of the reason why I have an extra freezer outside of my back door But you also go to your local grocery store. And this happened to me. a couple of weeks ago, I was starving ⁓ and exhausted ⁓ and was just like, I need something. And I did not want to go spend on a sub because that's what they are in lot of It's like, this is crazy town. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna stop and I'm gonna get turkey breast at the grocery store. They gave it to me and it was 1689 and I almost died. And I was like, this is insane. So literally came back to my team and I said, this is the deal. This is what we're doing. whenever we get chance, just start slacking turkeys and then cooking them off whole. And then once they cool, cut them in half, wrap them. And then give out a half a turkey to every person in addition to the meals they signed up for. ⁓ And I was like, if this is what turkey is in the grocery store. Like this is something that can feed a family for multiple meals throughout a week. So, and this is where it.
Heather Goldstone: Well, and instead of the store-bought turkey breast sandwich meat, you've got a dozen plus sandwiches there, right? Just slice up actual turkey breast.
Jeni Wheeler: 100%. And it hasn't been cooked with a ton of, you know, a ton of sodium. It hasn't been cooked with all of these things, right? Protein is the number one thing we have to purchase usually. So like, I literally like no, I'm not letting these go. Like, I understand there are pain in the neck to deal with. But like, I am not nope, not happening. Because again, They're now all by the way wrapped in plastic, right? And they're all going to go in landfills, this is part of what say to people is like, part of it is, you and particularly by the way with AI now too, like if you ingredients in your fridge, you can literally be like, ChatGPT what can I do with these six ingredients? Like, and it's going to tell
Heather Goldstone: I love it, we're using AI. I feel like that used to be, there was a cooking show people could call in and say, I have these crazy ingredients in my fridge and my pantry, ⁓ what can I make?
Jeni Wheeler: have. Yep, what can I make? Yep. But this is a great use for AI. like, mean, truly, like, this is one of those areas, like, it can help you decrease waste And it's
Heather Goldstone: I am a little scared of what an AI hallucination recipe might actually look like, but I might try it.
Jeni Wheeler: It's really interesting though because it the ability to peruse so many recipes in cookbooks and stuff,
Heather Goldstone: Okay, that's the for individual households, you've got surplus, use the power of the internet to find something to do with it.
Jeni Wheeler: something that you can do with it, but also recognize, just keep an open mind to that. Like if you have leftover chicken or leftover turkey and you were making a turkey sandwich, you can also put it in a quesadilla, right? You can make a soup and you can even, if we're giving you a half a turkey, like you can actually use the carcass, right? With all the leftover bits and pieces on it to make the base of a soup, again, it takes a little bit of thought, ⁓ but and if you're like, have no idea, then I'm telling you, go ask the internet. we're not trying to people's lives harder. ⁓ But ⁓ also, if they understand the ramifications of what true waste does, like if you don't use it and it becomes waste, ⁓ this is what we're contributing to. And I do think that we, you as global community should care about that. I understand that not everyone has the ability every day. I get it. I mean, I 100 % get it. However, it is important. It's important for our individual health. It's important for the health of individuals around us and the health of our planet. They all go hand in hand.
Heather Goldstone: So my favorite thing that I do with strawberries that makes them disappear instantaneously is you have some chocolate chips laying around. Chocolate covered strawberries may ⁓ seem incredibly decadent. They like a five minute,
Jeni Wheeler: ⁓ yeah, instantly.
Heather Goldstone: project. 30 seconds in the microwave with the chocolate chips, dip the strawberries in, drop them on a cookie sheet, stick them in the fridge, and 15 minutes later all of those strawberries that my kids wouldn't touch because mom they're kind of squishy. ⁓ they are gone.
Jeni Wheeler: Yeah. Yup. Yup. Yup. And they're gone.
Heather Goldstone: totally true. ⁓ think for most of us though, the question is, ⁓ how do we affect any change in that system?
Jeni Wheeler: So here's where I've moved far more into the advocacy space the very first thing you can do is shop local. And here's the deal. This is where, yep, you get trade-offs. ⁓ can be more expensive if you're trying to shop at your local farmer's market. but you know it's coming from right around you. You know that they're not putting pesticides in the ground. And your supporting local. So the other thing is, and this is where, know, right now, I think more than ever in our history, people are like, nah, I don't want to talk about politics. Like is just like a no go. But the reality is, if no one's talking about it, ⁓ nothing is going to change. ⁓ And ⁓ we need this to change. We need it to change for each one of us, for our health. We need it change for our local communities. for our state, for our country, and for our world.
Heather Goldstone: So I think what I'm getting is we don't have the answers yet for how we change those bigger systems and overhaul those, but we can all start taking some small steps in our own daily lives that will have both immediate benefits in how we feel, how healthy we are, as well as this kind of environmental impact.
Jeni Wheeler: 100%. The only way those changes happen, the only way those bigger changes happen is with national change. And this is where people have to decide what's important to them. And this is where you have to show up and participate in things like local government. If you're asking for ways and things you can do, start paying attention even, like I said, just within your town. Pay attention to whether or not they're allowing farmers markets, whether they're allowing farms, whether they're regulating that they have to treat crops or not use pesticides or stuff like that. That matters. I would say, act locally, and then that impacts globally eventually. And, you know, this is again, this is about showing up for one another. That's what we do.
Heather Goldstone: Well, thank you for showing up for all of us, for our community, day after day. Thank you for showing up here on Not A Climate Scientist, and we will definitely, definitely talk again.
Jeni Wheeler: You Absolutely, I can't wait and thank you for having me. Come find out more about us at FamilyTableCollaborative.org and if you're in the area, come play with us.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.